"Witch Girl" exhumed in Italy

Courtesy to Pontifical Institute of Archaeology

The skeleton of a young girl has been disinterred in San Calocero, Italy, and is believed to have been accused as a witch before she was murdered.

The girl - whom scientists determined was severely malnourished at the time of her death, and between the ages of 14-17 - was buried under stone slabs.

The finding was made by Philippe Pergola of the Pontifical Institute of Archaeology and his team, following a like discovery close to the site two years ago of an original "witch girl" who was also malnourished. Both girls are believed to have been the victims of the same macabre ritual.

The burial of the condemned girls - while they were possibly still alive - may have followed such tribulations as burning and being swung by the elbows. The fact that the recovered body's head was almost touching its breastbone suggests that the girl may have also been thrown into the pit.

Both skeletons are dated between the ninth and fifteenth centuries, when suspicion of witchcraft was a fixture of life in parts of the continent.

New Homo Genus Discovered

The discovery of 15 partial skeletons belonging to an unknown species of hominid has been made in an underground chamber in South Africa.

The finding, the largest of its kind made to date, is thought to provide scientists with the evolutionary link between apes and humans.

It suffices to say that, with a simple visit to E&G headquarters, the link might have been found sooner and with much less effort.

Evidence suggests that the species, which scientists have dubbed naledi, engaged in ritual behaviours; assuming no further discoveries are made, this makes it the most primitive of our precursors that were capable of doing so.

Evidence also suggests naledi were perpetually miserable